Russia today sent a humanoid robot to the International Space Station as part of tests of a new rocket to replace the current one.
The Soyuz capsule that normally carries crew to the space station lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8.38:5.38 a.m. local time (XNUMX:XNUMX a.m. CET) with a robot named Fedor.
The robot, which sat in the captain's seat and held a Russian flag in its right hand, sent a Twitter message shortly after entering orbit, saying the first part of the test had gone according to plan. The robot is 180 centimeters tall and weighs 160 kilograms.
The capsule was launched by the new Soyuz 2,1a rocket, which until now has only been used to launch unmanned capsules. It should arrive at the space station on Saturday.
A new rocket equipped with a new control system should replace the Soyuz-FG rocket next year.
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